Resident Evil by Bradygames, Damon Brown (2005, Paperback)

If you've ever played this game, you know there's a wealth of items, treasures and secrets that you'll inevitably miss your first time through, maybe your first couple of times. As I was late in discovering this game, I didn't have much hope of finding a guide (other than the all-text guides you find on Gamespot) - but I found one here on eBay.

This guide contains every secret, alternate route, scenario- you name it, its in there. This is one of the most comprehensive guides I've ever read; I'm no stranger to the Bradygames guides,they tend to be very in-depth and well-written so I expected a certain level of detail. There are hundreds of color stills from the game, images, detailed maps, tips, tricks and strategies to get you through any of the many difficult spots your character finds itself in- and you will find yourself in some very tight spots and you'll die a few times to be sure, but this guide can definitely help in the event that you can't get past a certain scenario or boss character.

I bought this guide after I'd already made several hours into the game; if you're familiar with RPGs of any kind then you know you need to explore every nook and cranny of every room, of every building, in the whole Godforsaken landmass, so I did it. Even having done that, I still found, in the guide, items and areas that I missed. That made me stop and read ahead with a bit more attention as I realized that there may have been much that I missed. For the most part, I did get most of the cool stuff you can, but there's more- there are several minigames for you to indulge in and in this regard, this guide is a blessing; not only does it give you detailed maps as I mentioned previously, but tips and strategies to help you proceed along; I won't give details as I feel its fun to discover the extras on your own. Suffice it to say there's much more to this game than the main story missions and prior to playing this game, I was NOT a fan of the RE series- I always felt that even though the prerendered scenes were nice looking as well as the character models, and it did have an engaging story line, there was never enough ammo or weapons to adequately complete the task. This is, of course, my own humble opinion- I am of the Run and Gun philosophy and the RE series definitely did not cater to my type of gameplay...so I didn't play. Until this one. If you've never played RE, or shooter/action-RPG games before, I strongly encourage you to make this your first foray into the genre- and unless you do not like shooters and/or action-RPGs you will not be disappointed. I guarantee it.

So, was this guide a good buy for me? You bet- and I suggest anyone having the problems I had to go ahead and make that bid, you'll be glad you did. I was.

Why did I buy this product? I brought this strategy guide because I had the game and needed to know what to do in certain situation. I'm very happy that I did buy this book I would have never finished the game.

What I like most about it? This book helps me in areas I know I would not have ever figured out where to go or what to do next, I'm impressed!

What I dislike about it? I don't have anything negative about it! it was a quick deliver, I'm excited and very pleased with this strategy guide and with the seller.

Helps you out. I had Beat the game at the time of purchase but wanted to make sure i hade uncovered everything. It also helps for the mini games after beating it and makes replaying on the hard mode simpler.

This guide by Bradygames is a must have for Resident Evil 4. You can finish the game without it, but due to the games high replayablity this is something good to have on hand. There are multiple gaming tip and cheat sites but it is very convenient to have all the info in one easy to pick up tome. If you are a long time RE fan it is also nice to have for the artwork, character bios, and as part of the canon.